Such a method for controlling the metering of fuel for a diesel engine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,461. In the method described in this application, the quantity of fuel to be injected in the part-load range is taken from multi-dimensional characteristic fields. The quantity of fuel to be metered to the engine is controlled with these values. In the full-load range, the output signal of a lambda probe is compared to a desired value. If the output signal of the lambda probe exceeds the pregiven desired value, then the quantity of fuel to be injected is correspondingly limited. The control has no influence on the quantity of fuel in the full-load range. This arrangement has the disadvantage that the control of the quantity of fuel is dependent only from the operational condition (start, idle, full-load, part-load) and from a few operating variables such as rotational speed, accelerator pedal position and the desired torque of the engine. Impermissible exhaust gas emissions can occur with this arrangement in specific operating conditions.